Indian technology professionals accepted the lottery odds, years in limbo and uncertainty because the pathway, however slow, was open.
asserted
pathway → accept → limbo
With nearly 10 lakh Indians already in the US employment-based green-card backlog, the journey from temporary worker to permanent resident is becoming a two-sided squeeze: getting in is harder, while getting out of the visa queue can take decades.
asserted
getting → base → decades
On September 8, US Department of Labor Inspector General Anthony D'Esposito announced that Cognizant's new PERM filings had been suspended amid an investigation into alleged fraud and misuse of employment-based visa programmes.
asserted
filings → announce → programmes
Days later, he said the same had happened to Cloudera.
asserted
same → say → Cloudera
The department has not publicly disclosed the number of employees affected, the duration of the suspensions or detailed allegations against either company.
asserted
department → disclose → company
Rajiv Dabhadkar, founder of the National Organisation for Software and Technology Professionals (NOSTOPS), told TOI,
“Cognizant's PERM suspension sends a broader signal to employers and employees: immigration policy and sponsorship practices are no longer just HR considerations; they are becoming central to long-term workforce planning.”
But the bigger story goes beyond one company.
asserted
story → tell → company
Indian professionals are caught between tighter scrutiny of temporary work visas and a permanent residency system where the wait for a green card is already extraordinarily long.
asserted
wait → catch → card
Put together, these two trends describe something more specific than “tighter immigration policy”: they describe a double squeeze, a narrowing gate to enter the system and a barely moving line to exit it.
asserted
they → Put → it
What a PERM suspension actually changes, and what it doesn’tPERM, or Program Electronic Review Management, is generally the labour-certification stage in which a US employer seeks Department of Labor approval to sponsor a foreign worker for permanent residence.
asserted
employer → change → residence
- PERM → Employer starts the labour-certification process
- I-140 → Employer files the immigrant petition
- Priority date → Worker waits for the date to become current
- I-485 / Consular processing → Apply for permanent residence
- Green card → Permanent residency is granted
asserted
residency → start → residence
That means a suspension of new PERM filings can prevent an employer from moving new workers into the permanent-residency process.
asserted
suspension → mean → process
It does not automatically mean that every existing H-1B worker's visa or previously approved immigration case has been cancelled.
asserted
visa → mean → ?
That distinction matters because Cognizant's development has created anxiety among Indian workers who may already be planning their careers around employer-sponsored permanent residence.
uncertain
who → matter → residence
But Cognizant's PERM suspension does not by itself explain why Indian workers face such a difficult green-card journey.
asserted
workers → explain → journey
That problem existed long before the latest investigation.
asserted
problem → exist → investigation
Dabhadkar said, “For Indian tech professionals, the emerging lesson is that a US job may be a career opportunity, but a US green card is a separate and increasingly uncertain proposition.”
uncertain
card → say → professionals
The first squeeze: staying on H-1B
For many Indian technology workers, the H-1B is the entry point into a longer US career.
asserted
H-1B → stay → career
The visa allows US employers to employ foreign workers in specialised occupations, including many technology roles.
asserted
employers → allow → roles
The system has an annual cap of 85,000 new H-1B visas: 65,000 under the regular quota and another 20,000 for foreign graduates with advanced degrees from US universities.
asserted
system → have → universities
Demand has long exceeded supply, making the selection process highly competitive.
asserted
process → exceed → supply
But the bigger issue for workers already in the US is that H-1B status is tied to employment.
asserted
status → tie → employment
If an employee loses the job, immigration status can quickly become a problem.
asserted
status → lose → job
That risk could become even greater if a new proposal from the Department of Homeland Security is finalised.
uncertain
proposal → become → Security
DHS has proposed removing the current discretionary 60-day grace period that allows certain H-1B and other employment-visa holders to remain in the US after their jobs end while looking for another employer or immigration option.
asserted
jobs → propose → employer
The proposal is still subject to the rule-making process and is not current law.
asserted
proposal → make → process
For an Indian worker who has spent years building a career in the US, that could turn a routine job change into an immigration emergency.
uncertain
that → spend → emergency
The second squeeze is much bigger: the green-card queue
This is where India's immigration problem becomes very different from that of many other nationalities.
asserted
problem → become → nationalities
The US limits employment-based immigrant visas and also applies a statutory per-country limit.
asserted
US → limit → limit
India has far more applicants in employment-based categories than the available annual numbers can accommodate.
asserted
numbers → have → categories
A recent National Foundation for American Policy analysis estimated that nearly 1 million Indians are stuck in the US employment-based green-card backlog, accounting for nearly 79 per cent of the estimated 1.26 million people waiting in the first three employment-based categories.
asserted
Indians → estimate → categories
For some applicants, the projected wait is extraordinarily long.
asserted
wait → project → applicants
NFAP has estimated that an Indian professional entering the queue in 2026 could face a potential wait of 179 years in EB-2 and 38 years in EB-3, under its modelling assumptions.
uncertain
professional → estimate → assumptions
These are NFAP projections, not official government wait times, and actual waits can change with demand, visa availability and changes to US law.
asserted
waits → change → law
But what does a 179-year wait mean for a 22-year-old’s idea of the future?
asserted
wait → mean → future
Dabhadkar said, “The precise number is almost beside the point.
asserted
number → say → point
What matters is the mismatch between the time horizon of immigration and the time horizon of a human life.
asserted
matters → matter → life
And that raises a question far larger than immigration: What happens to the American Dream after the American degree?
asserted
What → raise → degree
For September 2026, the State Department lists India's EB-2 category as unavailable for final action, while the EB-3 final action date is January 1, 2014 and EB-1 is October 15, 2022.
asserted
EB-1 → list → action
These dates determine whether a worker who has completed years of employment and employer sponsorship can actually receive permanent residence.
asserted
who → determine → residence
The State Department has also said all available FY2026 EB-2 immigrant visas for India had been used.
asserted
visas → say → India
…and 35 more, not listed.
The Aporia
